I have been thinking about what caused it to bend in the first place. I assume that the piston jammed some how while the motor was running. The bearings look almost new same with the gaskets. I know that the gentlemen i bought the tractor from never got around to working on it. He bought it from the county. I am thinking that someone from the county rebuilt it just before the rod failed. While removing the cam shaft I noticed that the end opposite the timing gear has a metal plug on the outside and a matching opening on the otherside of the rear seal. This is the first A i have worked on so I dont know if that opposite side opening should have a plug as well. When i torn down the motor it didnt have a plug there. I'll post photos when i get a chance. Im thinking that maybe this plug failed and lost coolent causing the motor to over heat and the piston to seize. Any thoughts?

thanks for the the help Cub Hut. might have been the source of the problem. It wasn't there when I split the tractor and I can find it in the bell housing. I wonder if someone forgot to install it or if it blow out. How can I tell if the block is a loss? I'll have the crank checked at our local shop.

Missing freeze plug did not cause the bent connecting rod. Most likely, as John said, hydrostatic lock, water on top of the piston. Cause, cracked head or head gasket fault. Guess, typically hydrostatic lock occurs on first crank of engine during start up.

Medic wrote:It wasn't there when I split the tractor and I can find it in the bell housing. I wonder if someone forgot to install it or if it blow out. How can I tell if the block is a loss? I'll have the crank checked at our local shop.

Freeze or frost plugs frequently rust out. If you rebuild the engine, replace all of the freeze plugs.

Medic wrote:How can I tell if the block is a loss?

Since engine is on engine stand, check very carefully for internal and external cracks, breaks, faults. No obvious problems, block will need to be boiled out, have the machine shop check the block again.